1. Chapter 12: Emotion

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Chapter Outline
What is emotion?
Theories of emotion
Emotion: How we develop
Emotion: What happens in the brain?
What about positive emotions?
The range of emotional experience: How we differ
Disorders of emotion: When things go wrong
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What Is Emotion?
Emotion—an intrapersonal state in response to an internal or external event
Three components of emotion:
Physiological—bodily arousal
Heart rate, temperature, and breathing changes
Cognitive—subjective appraisal and interpretation of one’s feelings and environment
Behavioural—physical expression of the emotion
Verbal or non-verbal emotional expressions
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What Is Emotion?
In-Class Activity: Go toward the back of the room and without warning, scream as loud as you can. Afterwards ask students what happened to them physiologically when you screamed. Did their heart jump? Did they stop breathing for a second? Did they experience any other changes describe in Figure 12-1? What were they thinking when you screamed (i.e., their cognitions): Did they wonder what happened? Where they confused? Did they experience any emotions when you screamed? Fear? Anger? Excitement? How did their physiological sensations or cognitive thoughts influence the emotions they felt? For example, maybe their heart leaping in their throat and their confusion by the event caused them to experience the emotion fear.
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5. Three Ways to Measure Emotions
Behavioural displays of emotion
Observe and rate facial expressions and verbal expressions of emotion
Self-reports of emotion
Widely used but has low validity. Why?
Psychophysiological reactions
Face electromyography
Heart rate
Skin conductance
Startle reflex
Discussion Question: Why might self-reports of emotion have low validity?
Answer: Participants’ inability to identify their own emotions or social desirability. Self-reports do not work well with children.
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Functions of Emotions
Cognitive functions
Emotions help organize and retrieve memories
Guide judgments and help us make decisions
Behavioural functions
Emotions alter behaviours
Action tendencies—emotions are associated with predictable patterns of behaviour
Social functions
Emotions both help and inhibit relationships
Discussion Question: Give some examples of how emotions help to guide judgments, organize memories, impact behaviours, and both help and hinder relationships?
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Theories of Emotion
James-Lange Theory—the physiological response we experience to an event is interpreted by us as an emotion
Cannon-Bard Theory—the experience of emotion and bodily arousal occur simultaneously
Schachter and Singer’s Two-Factor Theory—it is the way you interpret the physiological reaction that determines the emotion
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Theories of Emotion
Three major theories of emotion and how they would account for how a victim of road rage would react emotionally.
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9. Testing the Two-Factor Theory
In the absence of correct information, participants in the deceived and misinformed groups who received the epinephrine injection concluded that they were feeling happy, like the confederate who had acted euphoric.
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10. Capilano Suspension Bridge, Arousal, and Physical Attraction
Echoes of the Capilano Bridge study: The couple on the left posed for wedding pictures on the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver, a wooden-boarded, not-so-sturdy footbridge that stands high above the water and near the sounds of water pouring over the top of the Capilano dam. If asked they might well talk more about their strong feelings for each other rather than any fear induced by the swaying bridge and sounds of rushing water. What about the couple on the right on their much smaller, sturdier bridge?
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11. Other Theories of Emotion
Cognitive-mediational theory—cognitive appraisal affects not only how we interpret physical arousal, but also the level of arousal
Lazarus
Cognitive appraisal is a cognitive mediator between environmental stimuli and our reaction to those stimuli
Facial-feedback theory—facial expressions both express emotions and intensify physiological response to emotions
Facial efference—sensory feedback from facial muscular activity
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12. Testing the Facial-Feedback Theory
When you hold a pen between your teeth, you activate facial muscles that are associated with a smile and you are more likely to report pleasant feelings than if you held the pen between your lips
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Duchenne Smile
Which is the Duchenne smile?
Genuine versus artificial smiles: Real or Duchenne smiles reflect genuine emotion and involve muscles near the mouth and the eyes (left). Social or artificial smiles involve only muscles near the mouth (right).
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14. Survival Function of Emotions
Evolutionary theory—emotions are innate, passed through generations because they are necessary for survival
Basic emotions—innate and present regardless of culture
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15. Emotion: How We Develop
Lewis’s cognitive theory of emotional development
Certain emotional states can occur only after associated cognitive abilities develop:
Perceive and discriminate stimuli
Recall and relate memories to events
Be aware of self and others
Izard’s differential emotions theory
Emotions aid in development and emerge as a result of cognitive development
Achieving emotional milestones encourages exploratory behaviour, thus leading to future milestones
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16. Development of Emotions
Age
Development of Primary Emotions
Development of Secondary Emotions
0–8 months
Anger, happiness, sadness, surprise, disgust, fear
18–24 months
Envy, empathy, and embarrassment
24–36 months
Pride, shame, and guilt
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17. Emotion: What Happens in the Brain?
Early theories
Limbic system–brain structures thought to collectively create emotions
Current research
Emotional processes are controlled by multiple areas of the brain
Amygdala
Conditioning and recognizing fear
Cerebral cortex
Both positive and negative emotions
Prefrontal cortex
Involved in coordinating emotional responses, an emotional guide
Lecture Expander: Children at birth do not experience true emotions because their cerebral cortex is not developed enough for them to have conscious awareness of the ability to interpret the feeling as an emotion. Thus, a child might experience the physiological sensation of pain but not the cognitive interpretation of this sensation as pain. It isn’t until around 6 months when infants begin to have enough conscious awareness (due to brain development) to allow them to “feel” emotions.
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The Brain and Emotion
Brain structures linked to emotion: This figure indicates several of the brain parts that have been tied to emotion by various theories.
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19. The Brain’s Shortcut for Fear
When sensory input arrives at the thalamus, the thalamus sends it along a fast route to the amygdala and along a slower route to the visual cortex. The shortcut direct to the amygdala allows us to react instantly before thinking (LeDoux, 2008, 1996).
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20. What About Positive Emotions?
Positive psychology—study and enrichment of:
Positive feelings—happiness, optimism
Positive traits—wisdom, motivation
Positive abilities—social skills
Virtues—altruism, tolerance
Interesting findings:
Happy people tend to stay happy, even with life’s ups and downs
Unhappy people tend to find little long-term happiness in positive events
Discussion Questions: Do happy people simply deal with things better? Is happiness genetic? Is happiness learned?
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21. Happiness Levels Around the World
Discussion Question: Looking at these statistics, why do you think that the people in these countries are happier or sadder than the people in other countries? What factors might influence this?
Note that research indicates that it isn’t due to age, wealth, or being disabled.
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Happiness
Genetic component
Twin studies
Past happiness is the best predictor of future happiness
Happy people
Optimistic, outgoing, curious, and tender-minded
Longitudinal study—highly optimistic people had a 55 %reduced risk of death and a 23% reduced risk of heart problems
Have high self-esteem, are spiritual, are goal directed, have a sense of perseverance and of control over their lives
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23. The Range of Emotional Experience
Features of emotional responding
Emotional clarity—ability to accurately identify and distinguish one’s emotions
Attention to emotions—tendency to take notice of, value, and focus on one’s emotions
Emotional intensity—strength with which an individual typically experiences emotion
Stable trait
Moderate emotional intensity is the ideal level in most circumstances
Lecture Expander: Emotional clarity is the ability to identify emotions. Attention to emotions requires the ability to focus on emotions. Emotional intensity involves the characteristic strength of emotions.
Emotion styles: Combines levels of clarity, attention, and intensity to form clusters:
Hot: high clarity, attention, and intensity
Cool: low clarity, attention, and intensity
Overwhelmed: low clarity, average attention, and high intensity
Cerebral: high clarity, average attention, low intensity
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24. Regulation of Emotions
Regulating emotions is necessary to function effectively
Begins early in life
Influenced by temperament, models, and stressors
Develop adaptive or maladaptive styles of regulation
Emotion dysregulation—unhealthy attempt at emotion regulation
Suppressing emotions is only beneficial in the short term
Discussion Question: Why can’t a two-year-old control her emotions?
Answer: The part of her brain that involves impulse control has not developed yet. It begins to develop by age 3. Also, children need to be taught to use emotion regulation.
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25. Gender Differences in Emotion
Display rules—cultural expectations regarding the expression of emotions for men and women
Many male-female differences in emotionality disappear when display rules are removed
Discussion Question: What are the stereotypes for men and women regarding emotions?
Answer: Men: Calm, rational, cool, the suppression of positive emotions and the expression of negative emotions
Women: Openly express emotions, suppression of negative emotions and the expression of positive emotions
Women more often conform to feminine display rules while men conform to masculine display rules.
What is the benefit to conforming to display rules?
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26. Cultural and Ethnic Differences in Emotion
Facial expressions and the interpretation of facial expressions are generally consistent across cultures
Language describing emotions differ in some cultures
Differences are commonly associated with display rules
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27. Dialects and Facial Expressions of Emotion
Does your face have an accent?
Facial dialects: Can you see the dialect differences (the facial accents) in the expressions of emotion in these pictures? From Elfenbein, Beaupré, Lévesque, and Hess, (2007).
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28. Disorders of Emotion: When Things Go Wrong
Emotional clarity
Alexithymia—unable to identify or describe emotions
Attention to emotions
Hypervigilant—pay too much attention to emotions, associated with anxiety
Emotional intensity
Antisocial personality disorder—experience little or no anxiety or guilt as a result of their actions
Regulation of emotions
Borderline personality disorder—severe inability to regulate intense emotions
Mixed emotions are most likely to occur in emotionally complex situations. For example, someone might be both sad and happy to be leaving for an out-of-province university.
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Anxiety Disorders
Phobias
Unreasonable fear of something specific
Intense, persistent, and disruptive
Arachnophobia (spider) most common
Generalized anxiety disorder
Excessive anxiety all the time (chronic worrying)
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Anxiety Disorders
Panic disorder
Experience repeated panic attacks—periodic bouts of panic often occurring without provocation and involving physical symptoms that can feel like a heart attack
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
Compulsions—rigid, repetitive behaviours performed to reduce anxiety
Obsessions—persistent thoughts, ideas, and impulses that are excessive, cause great distress, take up much time, and interfere with daily functions
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Mood Disorders
Depression—feeling overwhelmed by life’s challenges, resulting in a markedly sad state
Mania—euphoric state, frenzied energy
Unipolar depression
Just depression (lows)
More common than bipolar
Bipolar disorder
Used to be called manic depression
Periods of mania alternate with periods of depression
Depression: The symptoms need to cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other functioning. Symptoms cannot be due to a drug. Symptoms are not accounted for by bereavement, or last longer than two months after death of loved one.
What causes depression?
Cognitive Factors
Cognitive triad: View experiences, self, and future in a negative way
Biological factors: Neurotransmitters: low serotonin and norepinephrine, genetic influence
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32. Well-Known Canadians and Depression
Everyone is vulnerable: A number of well-known Canadians have openly discussed their struggles with depression, including, actor Jim Carrey, poet Leonard Cohen, and singer, songwriters Oscar Lopez and Alanis Morisette. It can happen to anyone.
Jim Carrey Leonard Oscar Lopez Alanis
Cohen Morisette
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33. Copyright
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